Afternoon Drive withJoanne Joseph

Movember is about more than growing facial hair! It’s also about addressing male-related health problems and issues.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation states that every 60 minutes, ten South Africans suffer a stroke.

Nutrition Science Manager Gabriel Eksteen tells us more about these factors, and what to look out for.

Age is definitely one of our biggest risk factors but you know that’s the case for many diseases especially life-style diseases.

— Gabriel Eksteen, Nutrition Science Manager

Long gone are the days where old people are the only ones to experience a stroke. There are people as young as 35 who suffer from strokes.

We are seeing it at earlier ages and it comes down to how we live and the risk factors in our lives that we see earlier and earlier – things like obesity and high blood pressure and unhealthy diet. It’s no longer a disease just for older people.

— Gabriel Eksteen, Nutrition Science Manager

A stroke is a disease of the blood vessel says Nutrition Science Manager, Gabriel Eksteen. He goes on to state that most strokes don’t have a single cause, and instead, a number of varying factors could impact a persons health.

Gabriel states that blood vessels which age prematurely become stiff and narrow overtime. Abnormal clotting occurs in these premature blood vessels which cause a stroke says the Nutrition Science Manager.

Strokes are affected by a range of factors but one of the main reasons is blood pressure, which is one of biggest problems South Africans face.

The longer that you have high blood pressure, the more damage it does to your blood vessels. And the more likely a stroke is to come.